HHS girls romp to Central A home victories

The Havre High girls basketball team needed to get itself back on track, and it appears getting the chance to play a pair of conference opponents is exactly what did the trick.

The Blue Ponies played impressively on both ends of the floor both Friday night in a 73-58 win over Livingston and Saturday in a 62-36 trouncing of Belgrade at the HHS gymnasium. Havre is now 2-2 on the season and 2-0 in Central A conference after securing the back-to-back wins inside the HHS gymnasium.

“I think it just shows that our kids know what these games mean,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “I think that we stress these conference games a lot more and they pick up on that. They know they are important and they played like it.”

The Ponies opened their weekend against Livingston Friday night and they jumped out to a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to an eight-point effort from Dani Wagner.

In the second quarter, Havre started to pull away. The Ponies, who had struggled offensively coming in, scoring less than 40 points in losses to Malta and CMR, found their groove against the Rangers, scoring 29-second quarter points, 13 of those points came from the free-throw line, including a 6-for-6 effort from Wagner, as Havre built a 45-27 halftime lead.

Havre kept the Rangers at a distance for the rest of the game, cruising to a 15-point win as the Ponies continued to cash in from the charity stripe. The Ponies finished the game 25-of-31 from the line, while Wagner was an impressive 15-of-16. She also knocked down three shots from 3-point range and made five 2-pointers en route to a whopping 34 points.

Wagner may have been the star of the show for HHS, but the Ponies got a number of other contributions. Ceyara Plante had her best game of the season with 11 points. Kristen Nash added eight, while Danielle Wallace and Naomi Terry each had six.

Sierra Higgs was the top scorer for Livingston with 17 points.

After dispatching of the Rangers Saturday, the Ponies looked to make it a clean sweep against Belgrade and jumped on the Panthers early. With a size advantage inside, both Nash and Wallace scored multiple baskets in the opening stanza and at the end of it, Havre led 11-3.

A Wagner basket early in the second quarter, made the score 17-3, but the Panthers responded with a 7-0 that trimmed the lead to 17-10. But, Terry knocked down a trey and scored five more points before half to give Havre a 30-14 lead at the break.

“I thought Naomi did a nice job for us,” Kraske said. “I thought she played really well defensively against Livingston, and I think she started playing with a little more confidence.”

In the third quarter, Havre turned it on and extended its lead to 18 points after a hoop by Terry with 3:28 left in the stanza put HHS up 40-22. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the game was all but over. Wallace added a three-point play with 4:30 left in the game to put Havre up 26, which ended up being the final margin.

“I thought both Nash and Wallace played well,” Kraske said. “They did a good job of getting position inside and finishing. So I am really happy with those two.”

Wagner had another strong outing for the Ponies as she finished with 17 points against Belgrade and 51 for the weekend. Terry also finished the game with 17 points. She also grabbed six rebounds. Wallace pitched in with nine points, while Nash added six points and six rebounds. Skyla Newbauer was the only Belgrade player to reach double figures and she finished with 10 points.

“I was really pleased with some of our young kids,” Kraske said. “I think they are growing into their roles a little more and I think that they are starting to play much better.”

The Ponies, who are 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the Central A, have one more game to play before the holiday break and that will come Tuesday night, when they will travel to Great Falls to take on the Great Falls High Bison at the Swarthout Fieldhouse.

Havre 73, Livingston 58

Livingston: McKenzie 4, Gibson 8, Higgs 17, Tecca 12, Whiting 5, Robbins 12.

Havre: Ceyara Plante 11, Dani Wagner 34, Naomi Terry 6, Marca Herron 4, Danielle Wallace 6, Kristen Nash 8, Kyley Verploegen 4.

Havre 62, Belgrade 36

Belgrade 3 11 12 10 – 36

Havre 11 19 17 15 – 62

Belgrade – K. Bethke 9, S. Neubauer 6. K. Hoenstein 1, S. Nuebauer 10, K. Brown 2, H. Gee 3, P. Eitel 5. Totals: 14 8-18.

Havre – Ryon Olson 3, Dani Wagner 17, Naomi Terry 17, Marca Herron 6, Danielle Wallace 9, Kristen Nash 10. Totals: 24 10-16.

3-Point goals – Olson 1, Terry 2, Herron 1. Total fouls – Belgrade 18, Havre 19. Fouled out – Wallace.